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Post by claremont on Feb 4, 2024 4:10:59 GMT
I will change the subject slightly - Which player is next up in demand, and should we use our 1 dead cap retention slot to move him? This is the list of players we still have who don't fit into our longterm plans if you're building an ideal roster to push for a Cup in a few years:
- Gallagher - Anderson - Evans - Armia - Pearson - Dvorak
- Matheson - Savard
- Allen
There are other guys who might well get moved, specifically with respect to the logjam at LHD. But if we're looking to make deadline deals this year and/or retain a contract, it's probably coming from this group or from helping another team out in a trade. I actually think it's more likely we go this second route to be honest. But if we look at our own roster for now, Dvorak is hurt and staying. Gallagher and Anderson are on longterm deals that overpay them, so I don't think they're likely to be deadline deals either. Matheson is still useful to us, and I don't think Hughes is looking to trade him, so the only reason he'll see fit to do this is if the offer blows him away (which means he's probably not willing to do another team a favor by retaining salary). So that whittles us down to Evans, Armia, Pearson, Savard, and Allen as the real candidates to be moved by the deadline. I'd suggest 4 of those players have minimal trade value. We missed the boat on trading Allen and Anderson, and I hope we don't do the same with Matheson in the near future, but for the moment, I don't see a big advantage to retaining money on most of this list. If the return on Evans is a 4th or 5th rounder and it gets upgraded one round to retain some money on him, is that really helping you that much? Not really. If you're retaining on Allen or Armia, it's because you just want to move that contract, but again, I don't think the return is going to be huge. It's going to be a mid-round draft pick. Pearson's a guy you can retain on as a default if you get down to the 11th hour and don't have a deal to broker. But again, I'd expect Pearson garners a 3rd rounder give or take, depending on how well he plays over the next month.
The only player we have who is really of interest to trade as a deadline deal is Savard. He's got an outside shot of landing you a 1st rounder, akin to the Chiarot deal of a couple of years ago. I think it's more likely he gets us a 2nd rounder and a prospect, but that move still frees up some salary and a roster spot for us.
All in all, I think Monahan was the big move we had to make. I expect Pearson to be dealt. I expect the Habs will try hard to move Allen. But if we're looking to add to our cupboards in a real way, it'll take moving a Savard, Matheson, Xhekaj, Guhle, Montembeault, or Newhook, and I suspect the only guy off that list who is more than 30% likelihood to move is Savard. Xhekaj is probably the only other guy with something of a chance to be shipped out, and I think Hughes is only doing that if the return is a top 15 pick or equivalent prospect.
Pretty good summary but I would look at it this way: 1) We have an unused dead cap retention slot for this year. If there is a 3 way help another team out for this year, it has to be a pretty significant cap hit to move the needle. Looking at last year as an example, we picked up Nick Bonino, for $2.05M for a 2024 5th round draft pick from SJ, and then immediately shipped him to Pittsburgh retaining $1.025M so $1M buys a delayed 5th round pick? Coyotes broker the Patrick Kane Deal from Chicago to NYR last year, and pick up $2.625M of cap hit and get a delayed 2025 3rd round pick. A little more $ for a 3rd round pick. Minny Wild broker the Orlov Deal from Washington to Boston, and eat $1>025M for a 5th round pick. Minny Wild broker the Ryan O'Rielly deal with Nashville to Toronto - pretty much the same thing. None of these are earth shakers - Conclusion using the single deadcap retention slot as a 3rd party broker deal is pretty useless in draft picks acquired. 2) What may be of value is using this year's Dead cap retention slot and 1 of our 2 remaining retention slots for next year. The players eligible would be Savard, Allen and Armia - 50% retention on any 1 of those 3 would hardly cripple us, and as I have stated before $1.75M to an acquiring team for the 2024-25 year is hardly a big mistake as $1.15M can be buried in the minors, if the player flames out. To me Savard and Allen (slightly higher cost) are the more attractive pieces to a contender. I don't think we could get a first round pick for either, but the floor should be a late 2nd round pick. Even though Armia has picked up his game, do teams really need an inconsistent power forward / penalty killer who has been waived and been in the minors? Dvorak is out for the season so off the table. 3) The last option is to extend a dead cap hit into 2025-26. The player most eligible would be Matheson. If we retained 50% on Matheson at $2.5M he is a very attractive D-men for a contender. You would think that at minimum he would garner a 1st round pick and a high level / former 1st round pick. We would be selling Matheson at his peak of having pretty much a career year, and soon to be 30. Like you, I sense HuGo would be reluctant to make that deal as it really puts pressure on our existing Dmen. How many contending teams with $2.5M of cap room, need a strong LHD puck moving, high minutes, and power play leader? Someone would really have to push a lot of chips in. I suspect Matheson plays 1 more year here before we make that deal.
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regis
Le Gros Bill
Posts: 1,095
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Post by regis on Feb 4, 2024 4:52:44 GMT
Dvorak out for the season 😳 I wasn’t aware of that . That guy has no luck .
Well theres an opportunity . SM and CD gone . Lias andersson has an opportunity to be called up and show what he’s got
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Post by electron58 on Feb 4, 2024 5:27:53 GMT
Dvorak out for the season 😳 I wasn’t aware of that . That guy has no luck . Well theres an opportunity . SM and CD gone . Lias andersson has an opportunity to be called up and show what he’s got Need to find out sooner than later what he is capable of and can always send him back down after the season?
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Post by electron58 on Feb 4, 2024 5:38:30 GMT
Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes on defenseman David Savard: “I haven’t had a discussion with David yet. But my door is always open. Am I open to moving him? I’m open to moving anyone on the team as long as it improves the team. But I can’t say that we’re actively looking to trade Savard.”
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Post by electron58 on Feb 4, 2024 7:18:58 GMT
I will change the subject slightly - Which player is next up in demand, and should we use our 1 dead cap retention slot to move him? Tough question. With Petry still having term after this year & Edmundson coming off the books after this year (when is it actually?) We may want to use it on an expiring contract but do we have anybody? Otherwise the return would have to be significant if we were to retain on say a Savard or Armia. The other option is to help broker a deal in a 3-way. My gut feeling is that nothing more major will happen. I guess salary retentions actually come off the books July 1st?
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 4, 2024 19:11:22 GMT
Tough question. With Petry still having term after this year & Edmundson coming off the books after this year (when is it actually?) We may want to use it on an expiring contract but do we have anybody? Otherwise the return would have to be significant if we were to retain on say a Savard or Armia. The other option is to help broker a deal in a 3-way. My gut feeling is that nothing more major will happen. I guess salary retentions actually come off the books July 1st? Yes. Eddy's comes off Jul 1, 2024 and Petry's Jul 1, 2025. That means we only have one retention slot left and will get a second one back July 1st. But if we use one now on say Pearson, it means we can't retain on anyone if we make a trade at the draft.
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Post by electron58 on Feb 6, 2024 5:05:56 GMT
I guess salary retentions actually come off the books July 1st? Yes. Eddy's comes off Jul 1, 2024 and Petry's Jul 1, 2025. That means we only have one retention slot left and will get a second one back July 1st. But if we use one now on say Pearson, it means we can't retain on anyone if we make a trade at the draft. For sure considering the draft is Fri, Jun 28, 2024 – Sat, Jun 29, 2024. I would hope HUGO makes absolute sure he is getting premium value back when & if hi uses that slot. No more incidental 6th or 7th round picks. A first or very high second or nothing.
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Post by maasart on Feb 6, 2024 20:50:01 GMT
I never realized how good Allen's playoff numbers were: 2.06 GAA .924SAA in 29 playoff games.
Have to wonder if a team like Edmonton, that may not be fully confident in their starter, could targer a guy like Allen as insurance. I dont think that gets you a huge return but maybe an interesting prospect (albeit, probably a long-shot)
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Post by HTL on Feb 6, 2024 21:17:01 GMT
I never realized how good Allen's playoff numbers were: 2.06 GAA .924SAA in 29 playoff games. Have to wonder if a team like Edmonton, that may not be fully confident in their starter, could targer a guy like Allen as insurance. I dont think that gets you a huge return but maybe an interesting prospect (albeit, probably a long-shot) There's also talk the Habs might risk waiving Primeau now, seeing as that other kid from Anaheim cleared with very similar stats. Both same age and NHL experience.
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Post by maasart on Feb 6, 2024 22:28:13 GMT
I never realized how good Allen's playoff numbers were: 2.06 GAA .924SAA in 29 playoff games. Have to wonder if a team like Edmonton, that may not be fully confident in their starter, could targer a guy like Allen as insurance. I dont think that gets you a huge return but maybe an interesting prospect (albeit, probably a long-shot) There's also talk the Habs might risk waiving Primeau now, seeing as that other kid from Anaheim cleared with very similar stats. Both same age and NHL experience. At this point our roster is so thin it probably doesnt matter. There's only 30 games left in the year, they might as well keep the 3 headed monster if they cant get what they want for Allen.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 7, 2024 3:20:27 GMT
Also reasonable odds they might be able to trade Allen in the off-season with only 1 year remaining on his contract.
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Post by claremont on Feb 7, 2024 16:40:33 GMT
In another episode of over valuing our players, took a look at the teams that could be interested in a 5/6 pairing shot blocker, with some size and Stanley cup leadership experience - David Savard. Now Hughes says he is not actively being shopped and my sentiment is that it is a toss-up in demand between moving Jake Allen vs. Savard, and I assume the Habs would retain 50% on either using 1 retention slot in 2024-25. The question is what could we fetch - another 2nd round pick or higher, and is that enough value? My feeling is that any of these teams Canucks, Leafs, Florida, New Jersey (all of those have no 2nd round 2024 pick), Pittsburgh (cap room issue), then Blues (we could sweeten the deal by taking on a bad contract like Vrana), Jets, Dallas, Kings (don't think Brandt Clarke is ready yet, and Matt Roy is UFA next year), and Oilers (Is Deharnais enough depth?) Teams not on my list seem to have enough RHD depth. I guess I can dream, and maybe Savard is an off season trade.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 7, 2024 16:50:14 GMT
In another episode of over valuing our players, took a look at the teams that could be interested in a 5/6 pairing shot blocker, with some size and Stanley cup leadership experience - David Savard. Now Hughes says he is not actively being shopped and my sentiment is that it is a toss-up in demand between moving Jake Allen vs. Savard, and I assume the Habs would retain 50% on either using 1 retention slot in 2024-25. The question is what could we fetch - another 2nd round pick or higher, and is that enough value? My feeling is that any of these teams Canucks, Leafs, Florida, New Jersey (all of those have no 2nd round 2024 pick), Pittsburgh (cap room issue), then Blues (we could sweeten the deal by taking on a bad contract like Vrana), Jets, Dallas, Kings (don't think Brandt Clarke is ready yet, and Matt Roy is UFA next year), and Oilers (Is Deharnais enough depth?) Teams not on my list seem to have enough RHD depth. I guess I can dream, and maybe Savard is an off season trade. Who is over valuing our players? Allen is not a star goalie but a good backup, I think all of us would agree on that? Savard is a good shot blocking Dman who will be good but not great in the playoffs pretty sure we would all agree on that too? I really don't think we are going to move Savard he is a good stable guy out back and does not have the value to make it worth it.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 7, 2024 20:24:02 GMT
In another episode of over valuing our players, took a look at the teams that could be interested in a 5/6 pairing shot blocker, with some size and Stanley cup leadership experience - David Savard. Now Hughes says he is not actively being shopped and my sentiment is that it is a toss-up in demand between moving Jake Allen vs. Savard, and I assume the Habs would retain 50% on either using 1 retention slot in 2024-25. The question is what could we fetch - another 2nd round pick or higher, and is that enough value? My feeling is that any of these teams Canucks, Leafs, Florida, New Jersey (all of those have no 2nd round 2024 pick), Pittsburgh (cap room issue), then Blues (we could sweeten the deal by taking on a bad contract like Vrana), Jets, Dallas, Kings (don't think Brandt Clarke is ready yet, and Matt Roy is UFA next year), and Oilers (Is Deharnais enough depth?) Teams not on my list seem to have enough RHD depth. I guess I can dream, and maybe Savard is an off season trade.
I don't think he's being overvalued here. Teams like guys that for the playoffs, and Savard being a righty helps boost his value too. Multiple sources have cited that the Flames asking price for Tanev is either a 1st rounder OR a 2nd rounder with a good prospect. Savard is a comparable player to Tanev. Both big right-handed guys, mainly D first and with some toughness and PK ability. Tanev is a year older and makes more salary than Savard. He's an impending UFA but some teams view that as a good thing and others would view having Savard locked up for another year as being more valuable. Savard was previously traded for a 1st rounder plus and he helped his team win a Cup, whereas Tanev has no Cups. Now the rumors are that Hughes is not shopping Savard but will listen to offers if called. I don't think he'll budge unless he gets a good offer (2nd rounder or better), and we can sniff at that, but we got a 2nd rounder for Kulak and that brought back Lane Hutson.
Last year, Gostisbehere went for a 3rd rounder at the deadline, and I think Savard is viewed as a more valuable playoff piece than Ghost. Luke Scheen went for a 3rd. The year before, Justin Braun went for a 3rd, and he was awful. Travis Dermott also traded for a 3rd. Travis Hamonic for a 3rd. Chiarot for a 1st, 4th, and prospect. Josh Manson for a 2nd and good prospect... I think Savard's value is higher than that group that went for 3rd rounders given his Cup experience. He might not fetch a 1st rounder the way Chiarot did, but I wouldn't be surprised if he brings back more than Kulak and if we land a late 2nd rounder and a prospect in return. For example, could you get a future 2nd rounder and Topi Niemela from Toronto? A 2024 2nd and Christian Kyrou from Dallas? A deal centered around Ethan Gauthier from Tampa Bay, who have been rumored to be interested in repatriating Savard? Just a few examples of deals that I think could well be reasonable propositions.
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Post by maasart on Feb 7, 2024 22:02:56 GMT
In another episode of over valuing our players, took a look at the teams that could be interested in a 5/6 pairing shot blocker, with some size and Stanley cup leadership experience - David Savard. Now Hughes says he is not actively being shopped and my sentiment is that it is a toss-up in demand between moving Jake Allen vs. Savard, and I assume the Habs would retain 50% on either using 1 retention slot in 2024-25. The question is what could we fetch - another 2nd round pick or higher, and is that enough value? My feeling is that any of these teams Canucks, Leafs, Florida, New Jersey (all of those have no 2nd round 2024 pick), Pittsburgh (cap room issue), then Blues (we could sweeten the deal by taking on a bad contract like Vrana), Jets, Dallas, Kings (don't think Brandt Clarke is ready yet, and Matt Roy is UFA next year), and Oilers (Is Deharnais enough depth?) Teams not on my list seem to have enough RHD depth. I guess I can dream, and maybe Savard is an off season trade.
I don't think he's being overvalued here. Teams like guys that for the playoffs, and Savard being a righty helps boost his value too. Multiple sources have cited that the Flames asking price for Tanev is either a 1st rounder OR a 2nd rounder with a good prospect. Savard is a comparable player to Tanev. Both big right-handed guys, mainly D first and with some toughness and PK ability. Tanev is a year older and makes more salary than Savard. He's an impending UFA but some teams view that as a good thing and others would view having Savard locked up for another year as being more valuable. Savard was previously traded for a 1st rounder plus and he helped his team win a Cup, whereas Tanev has no Cups. Now the rumors are that Hughes is not shopping Savard but will listen to offers if called. I don't think he'll budge unless he gets a good offer (2nd rounder or better), and we can sniff at that, but we got a 2nd rounder for Kulak and that brought back Lane Hutson.
Last year, Gostisbehere went for a 3rd rounder at the deadline, and I think Savard is viewed as a more valuable playoff piece than Ghost. Luke Scheen went for a 3rd. The year before, Justin Braun went for a 3rd, and he was awful. Travis Dermott also traded for a 3rd. Travis Hamonic for a 3rd. Chiarot for a 1st, 4th, and prospect. Josh Manson for a 2nd and good prospect... I think Savard's value is higher than that group that went for 3rd rounders given his Cup experience. He might not fetch a 1st rounder the way Chiarot did, but I wouldn't be surprised if he brings back more than Kulak and if we land a late 2nd rounder and a prospect in return. For example, could you get a future 2nd rounder and Topi Niemela from Toronto? A 2024 2nd and Christian Kyrou from Dallas? A deal centered around Ethan Gauthier from Tampa Bay, who have been rumored to be interested in repatriating Savard? Just a few examples of deals that I think could well be reasonable propositions.
Agree. I think the other thing is that many of the proposals about Savard include retention. Not sure if Hughes would do that but, if he did, Savard at $1.75m for the remainder of this year, next and 2 playoffs? I could see a team seeing that as a huge value. You could afford to add him as your #5-6dman & PK specialist.
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Post by claremont on Feb 7, 2024 23:35:15 GMT
In another episode of over valuing our players, took a look at the teams that could be interested in a 5/6 pairing shot blocker, with some size and Stanley cup leadership experience - David Savard. Now Hughes says he is not actively being shopped and my sentiment is that it is a toss-up in demand between moving Jake Allen vs. Savard, and I assume the Habs would retain 50% on either using 1 retention slot in 2024-25. The question is what could we fetch - another 2nd round pick or higher, and is that enough value? My feeling is that any of these teams Canucks, Leafs, Florida, New Jersey (all of those have no 2nd round 2024 pick), Pittsburgh (cap room issue), then Blues (we could sweeten the deal by taking on a bad contract like Vrana), Jets, Dallas, Kings (don't think Brandt Clarke is ready yet, and Matt Roy is UFA next year), and Oilers (Is Deharnais enough depth?) Teams not on my list seem to have enough RHD depth. I guess I can dream, and maybe Savard is an off season trade. Who is over valuing our players? Allen is not a star goalie but a good backup, I think all of us would agree on that? Savard is a good shot blocking Dman who will be good but not great in the playoffs pretty sure we would all agree on that too? I really don't think we are going to move Savard he is a good stable guy out back and does not have the value to make it worth it. My reference to overvaluation was in light of the Monahan deal - several readers felt Monahan should have fetched more than a 1st to include a higher level prospect in addition to that re; Lindholm comparison, but the league did not see it that way. We have had some very good fortune for the Romanov trade (1st round pick+ but mind you he was under RFA), and the Chiarot Trade (1st round pick), that I don't think IMO the league GM's will feel that a subsidized 5/6 pairing Savard is worth that high a level of exchange. Ditto for Allen so I was curious on expectations.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 8, 2024 0:12:30 GMT
Who is over valuing our players? Allen is not a star goalie but a good backup, I think all of us would agree on that? Savard is a good shot blocking Dman who will be good but not great in the playoffs pretty sure we would all agree on that too? I really don't think we are going to move Savard he is a good stable guy out back and does not have the value to make it worth it. My reference to overvaluation was in light of the Monahan deal - several readers felt Monahan should have fetched more than a 1st to include a higher level prospect in addition to that re; Lindholm comparison, but the league did not see it that way. We have had some very good fortune for the Romanov trade (1st round pick+ but mind you he was under RFA), and the Chiarot Trade (1st round pick), that I don't think IMO the league GM's will feel that a subsidized 5/6 pairing Savard is worth that high a level of exchange. Ditto for Allen so I was curious on expectations. Objectively, Monahan's value should have been closer to Lindholm's. Several sources are now saying that Hughes had significant interest and believe he could have gotten more if he waited.
With respect to Savard, I think he can bring back a 2nd and a prospect. Outside shot at a 1st depending on how the market plays out. But I don't think Hughes will move him unless the offer is good and I think the most likely outcome is that he's still here until next year.
I don't think Allen's value is very high. Given the goaltending situation we have, I think Hughes would have sold Allen if there was a 2nd rounder coming back. I suspect the best offer to date has been a 3rd or worse, probably with a request for salary retention. I think he's likely to move at the deadline, and I think we'll likely be looking at something like a 2nd or 3rd coming back if we retain 50% and a 4th or 5th rounder if we sell him outright. I don't think the goalie market is friendly to sellers right now, since no one has bit yet despite being in need.
But we've seen Hughes hold on to Allen too long and Anderson too long. I'd hate to see us make the same mistakes with players like Matheson and Savard. Best to move on from them while we can get a return. IMO, the players we have who would be most likely to bring back a 1st rounder or better and who could be available would include Matheson, Xhekaj, Guhle, and a small chance with Savard. Ultimately, though, I think we may see more movement in the summer than at the deadline.
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Post by maasart on Feb 8, 2024 0:30:02 GMT
My reference to overvaluation was in light of the Monahan deal - several readers felt Monahan should have fetched more than a 1st to include a higher level prospect in addition to that re; Lindholm comparison, but the league did not see it that way. We have had some very good fortune for the Romanov trade (1st round pick+ but mind you he was under RFA), and the Chiarot Trade (1st round pick), that I don't think IMO the league GM's will feel that a subsidized 5/6 pairing Savard is worth that high a level of exchange. Ditto for Allen so I was curious on expectations. Objectively, Monahan's value should have been closer to Lindholm's. Several sources are now saying that Hughes had significant interest and believe he could have gotten more if he waited.
With respect to Savard, I think he can bring back a 2nd and a prospect. Outside shot at a 1st depending on how the market plays out. But I don't think Hughes will move him unless the offer is good and I think the most likely outcome is that he's still here until next year.
I don't think Allen's value is very high. Given the goaltending situation we have, I think Hughes would have sold Allen if there was a 2nd rounder coming back. I suspect the best offer to date has been a 3rd or worse, probably with a request for salary retention. I think he's likely to move at the deadline, and I think we'll likely be looking at something like a 2nd or 3rd coming back if we retain 50% and a 4th or 5th rounder if we sell him outright. I don't think the goalie market is friendly to sellers right now, since no one has bit yet despite being in need.
But we've seen Hughes hold on to Allen too long and Anderson too long. I'd hate to see us make the same mistakes with players like Matheson and Savard. Best to move on from them while we can get a return. IMO, the players we have who would be most likely to bring back a 1st rounder or better and who could be available would include Matheson, Xhekaj, Guhle, and a small chance with Savard. Ultimately, though, I think we may see more movement in the summer than at the deadline.
Yeah, agree with all of this. Hughes knows there was a (decent) chance he could get more for Monahan but - the same way he dealt Eddy early, he pulled the trigger on Monahan when the value was what he wanted & the injury risk was a concern. I also agree they likely dont move Savard unless the offer is "cant refuse" territory. If someone calls him up offering a prospect he likes or a 1st rounder, I think Hughes listens for sure. And I also think this summer will see a couple of big moves (especially if we get to see a few games of guys like Hutson and Mailloux before the season is over) and i think the TD might be relatively quiet outside of "pearson for a 5th" type moves.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 8, 2024 1:31:57 GMT
Objectively, Monahan's value should have been closer to Lindholm's. Several sources are now saying that Hughes had significant interest and believe he could have gotten more if he waited.
With respect to Savard, I think he can bring back a 2nd and a prospect. Outside shot at a 1st depending on how the market plays out. But I don't think Hughes will move him unless the offer is good and I think the most likely outcome is that he's still here until next year. I don't think Allen's value is very high. Given the goaltending situation we have, I think Hughes would have sold Allen if there was a 2nd rounder coming back. I suspect the best offer to date has been a 3rd or worse, probably with a request for salary retention. I think he's likely to move at the deadline, and I think we'll likely be looking at something like a 2nd or 3rd coming back if we retain 50% and a 4th or 5th rounder if we sell him outright. I don't think the goalie market is friendly to sellers right now, since no one has bit yet despite being in need.
But we've seen Hughes hold on to Allen too long and Anderson too long. I'd hate to see us make the same mistakes with players like Matheson and Savard. Best to move on from them while we can get a return. IMO, the players we have who would be most likely to bring back a 1st rounder or better and who could be available would include Matheson, Xhekaj, Guhle, and a small chance with Savard. Ultimately, though, I think we may see more movement in the summer than at the deadline.
Yeah, agree with all of this. Hughes knows there was a (decent) chance he could get more for Monahan but - the same way he dealt Eddy early, he pulled the trigger on Monahan when the value was what he wanted & the injury risk was a concern. I also agree they likely dont move Savard unless the offer is "cant refuse" territory. If someone calls him up offering a prospect he likes or a 1st rounder, I think Hughes listens for sure. And I also think this summer will see a couple of big moves (especially if we get to see a few games of guys like Hutson and Mailloux before the season is over) and i think the TD might be relatively quiet outside of "pearson for a 5th" type moves.
That's what I think too. The fact is that we don't really need more low-end assets, we need quality. But the guys who are going to bring that back are not rentals, so I see more room for movement around the draft. Maybe then we see the likes of Xhekaj, Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Anderson, Armia, Evans, etc. put out there to see what they can bring back. There's a small chance we see a guy with another year of term move this deadline (Savard, Armia, Evans, etc.), but I don't think Hughes is wasting a retention spot on moving a depth player where the return won't move the needle, so to me, it's either retention on an expiring contract like Pearson right up against the wire because we may as well use it and had nothing else to use it on or it's retention on one of Savard or Allen because it improves the return significantly and brings back a 2nd rounder or better.
Ultimately, I think Hughes' efforts will be on moving Pearson for whatever the best offer is, since there's no purpose in keeping him and in trying to find a home for Jake Allen, mostly because we don't have the capacity to keep three goalies going forever. But we're not getting a great return for those guys. I think he'll see what's out there for Savard. I think he'll see if he can generate some interest in Armia. And I also wonder if he surprises us and moves someone like Harris or Kovacevic in order to clear some roster space out. We've all heard rumors that Hutson, Engstrom, and Reinbacher could all sign and be eligible to join the Habs or the Rocket this season, and a decision will need to be made on Luke Tuch too. Beck and maybe Mesar likely don't sign in-season this year given the Memorial Cup, but there could be a need for roster spots on D and there could be a need for contract spots in the organization. I think we're already up to that 50-contract limit with the Gignac signing, so there's no room to add the likes of Hutson and Reinbacher unless we move some bodies out for picks or unsigned prospects.
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Post by electron58 on Feb 8, 2024 1:42:21 GMT
Yeah, agree with all of this. Hughes knows there was a (decent) chance he could get more for Monahan but - the same way he dealt Eddy early, he pulled the trigger on Monahan when the value was what he wanted & the injury risk was a concern. I also agree they likely dont move Savard unless the offer is "cant refuse" territory. If someone calls him up offering a prospect he likes or a 1st rounder, I think Hughes listens for sure. And I also think this summer will see a couple of big moves (especially if we get to see a few games of guys like Hutson and Mailloux before the season is over) and i think the TD might be relatively quiet outside of "pearson for a 5th" type moves.
That's what I think too. The fact is that we don't really need more low-end assets, we need quality. But the guys who are going to bring that back are not rentals, so I see more room for movement around the draft. Maybe then we see the likes of Xhekaj, Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Anderson, Armia, Evans, etc. put out there to see what they can bring back. There's a small chance we see a guy with another year of term move this deadline (Savard, Armia, Evans, etc.), but I don't think Hughes is wasting a retention spot on moving a depth player where the return won't move the needle, so to me, it's either retention on an expiring contract like Pearson right up against the wire because we may as well use it and had nothing else to use it on or it's retention on one of Savard or Allen because it improves the return significantly and brings back a 2nd rounder or better.
Ultimately, I think Hughes' efforts will be on moving Pearson for whatever the best offer is, since there's no purpose in keeping him and in trying to find a home for Jake Allen, mostly because we don't have the capacity to keep three goalies going forever. But we're not getting a great return for those guys. I think he'll see what's out there for Savard. I think he'll see if he can generate some interest in Armia. And I also wonder if he surprises us and moves someone like Harris or Kovacevic in order to clear some roster space out. We've all heard rumors that Hutson, Engstrom, and Reinbacher could all sign and be eligible to join the Habs or the Rocket this season, and a decision will need to be made on Luke Tuch too. Beck and maybe Mesar likely don't sign in-season this year given the Memorial Cup, but there could be a need for roster spots on D and there could be a need for contract spots in the organization. I think we're already up to that 50-contract limit with the Gignac signing, so there's no room to add the likes of Hutson and Reinbacher unless we move some bodies out for picks or unsigned prospects.
Aren't we at 45? And is Beck not signed yet?
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